This week’s posts selected by Chris Rowland and Daniel Rhodes. The idea of this round-up is to give you all some idea of the range of debate on the site. If you’d like to be part of our troll-free community, there’s a ‘Subscribe’ tab at the very bottom of the page. 1 – Ahead of England’s first W...

While I try to avoid running into such arguments, I see that some Man United fans began claiming that Jürgen Klopp had spent more than Jose Mourinho, when it looked like Liverpool were going to sign Nabil Fekir, before medical issues scuppered (or postponed) the deal. Presumably Liverpool will st...

Exactly what (ford) the doctor ordered after the defeat at Old Trafford. A very early goal, followed by a first half in ‘easy’ gear, and then another just before the break to kill the game off – and then the continuation of The Salah Show in the second half. Three big chances, and around 2 xG sho...

Back down to earth with a bang. Back to Lovren making a mess of basic defending and allowing Manchester United the perfect start to the game, enabling them to play their preferred choice of tactical set up and prevent us creating anything else. Let us remember, this is purely judging the data pre...

Well, Man United fans – there’s your man, Jose Mourinho, beating Liverpool with long-ball football that made 1980s’ Wimbledon look like the Brazil 1970, and nine-man defences. Is that really what you want? Good, because you can keep it. The truth is that a team/squad that costs twice as much as L...

While one XI/squad costing twice as much as another won’t make them twice as good (economies of scale apply), it’s possibly fair to say that in spending half as much money – to be roughly in the same position in the league and the Champions League – a manager is doing a significantly better job....

Compiled by Chris Rowland and Daniel Rhodes. Be honest, who looks forward to this? Does the glorious prospect of Liverpool winning on our fierce rivals’ own pitch outweigh the possible nightmare of losing? No wonder both sets of supporters would probably take a draw. We could yet be returning to...

Shinji Kagawa, Mario Gotze, Nuri Sahin. Three of Borussia Dortmund’s jewels under Jürgen Klopp, only to be sold by the club – to Manchester United, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid respectively – and regress as players. All are now back at Dortmund, and statistically, all three are well below where...

I don’t like to talk too much about Manchester United, especially as this site relates to Liverpool FC, but I have also been writing about football spending and its links to success for almost a decade now. It’s eight years since I joined forces with Graeme Riley to create the Transfer Price Inde...

Anyone who’s read my My Day At The Match articles will know that the pincer movement of the uncertainties of rail travel and revised kick-off times tend to loom large in my day. Well this game set a new low. A 12.30 kick off and Lime Street being beset by building work as they add two new platfor...

While it’s difficult to enjoy facing a plucky six-at-the-back bargain basement team who are fighting relegation and playing for their futures in the sport, watching The New Man United was a different experience. They’ve been completely reinvented this season they told me; jaws on the ground, asto...

Of course, Jose Mourinho loves a 0-0 at Anfield. He’s a genius because he can take a team costing over £500m after inflation and have them play like West Brom. It takes some doing. No normal coach can do that. You have to be special. And his tactics weren’t even that effective, as Liverpool creat...

By Gary Fulcher & Daniel Rhodes. After a promising start to the season, Liverpool’s fortunes have nosedived recently and right on queue the international break has delivered another kick to the nuts with Sadio Mané set to miss around nine matches due to a hamstring injury picked up while playing...

This article – written by Manchester United fan Laurie Shaw, who completed his doctorate at Cambridge ten years ago – first appeared on his EightyFivePoints blog earlier this month, using TTT’s transfer inflation model (Transfer Price Index). Like stock markets in the late nineties, the English t...

By TTT Subscriber Mark Cohen. In Part 1 Mark followed his general set-up with a detailed study of financially doped trio of Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea. Here it’s the turn of Arsenal, Spurs and Liverpool under the microscope. Tottenham Hotspur Surely one of the most fascinating stories of next...

By Daniel Rhodes. Manchester United drop points. Manchester City drop points. Arsenal drop their dignity. Liverpool travel to their kryptonite. The Land of Watford’s Giants (biggest and tallest team in the league, and possibly ever). Pressure is on. Monday Night Football. Coutinho is injured by t...

By Daniel Rhodes. Another cagey affair, with only one non-penalty big chance, and that was for the home team. Mignolet made two good saves, but the late equaliser felt like a bit of a kick in the teeth, especially as Valencia was offside in the build up to the goal. In terms of the match stats:...

Regular readers may have noticed by now that I rarely predict the outcome of games. I see predicting the score as largely pointless, given the number of random things that can happen. Today, however, I didn’t have a good feeling about Liverpool going to Man United. In fairness, I loathe the fixtu...

By Daniel Rhodes. For the rest of the season The Tomkins Times is going to be providing a detailed report on the opposition in the biggest games. We’re starting with Liverpool’s visit to Old Trafford on Sunday, looking at Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United, and focusing on all the best information...

Part One by Gary Fulcher. Liverpool return to Premier League action on Sunday – 4pm kick off UK time – with a trip to Old Trafford to face Mourinho’s Manchester Utd. The Red Devils sit in 6th place, nine points clear of Everton in 7th and ten adrift of leaders Chelsea but have won their last six...

So, how does the job that Jürgen Klopp is doing compare with other new arrivals? (Also, for a great piece on the Reds’ title chances, Mark Cohen’s TTT tour de force is now a totally free read.) Since the start of last season no fewer than four major names have been appointed as manager within th...

First of all, season’s greetings to all (yes, even the Man United fans who secretly read us), and many, many thanks for supporting The Tomkins Times in 2016. It’s been a difficult year with the technical work to overcome the “land-locking” limitations of the old subscription interface, followed b...

By Daniel Rhodes. The anticipation, the build-up, the nerves; remember those? After about seven minutes all my pent up energy had dissipated into the emissions of Mourinho’s number 631 bus. There were two or three cynical fouls within the first few minutes. We had players slowly walking up to tak...

PART ONE We hate Nottingham Forest. We hate Everton too. We hate Man United… (and Chelsea, Arsenal, City, Spurs, … et al.) Of course, hating something is often as a result of it being a threat – to your own personal health, to your happiness or to your way of life. Right now, plenty of teams are...

Part One by Gary Fulcher. Jose Mourinho’s Manchester Utd (words that individually are unpalatable and combined downright vomit-inducing) are the next visitors to Anfield for Monday Night Football – 8pm kick off UK time – and it should be a fantastic occasion given the opposition and their new ma...

By Paul Tomkins. Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Old Trafford – a game in which United’s keeper was yet again the busier – confirmed the changing tide between these two sides. One is flying up the u-bahn, the other is heading towards the u-bend. Maybe United will be better next season under a manager int...

By Mihail Vladimirov. For this game Liverpool recalled Coutinho and Sturridge to the starting XI with both Moreno and Clyne starting at full-back. For United, following his several injuries, Van Gaal was hamstrung in several areas. But he still had enough fit players to name a strong-looking star...

By Paul Tomkins. It’s only a job half-done, but Liverpool could have been out of sight but for an outstanding goalkeeping display from Man United’s one top-class player. Maybe United will still win the tie – they might scrape through if their keeper plays as well again next week and they get luck...

By Gary Fulcher. Liverpool and Manchester Utd meet for the first time in European competition when they clash at Anfield in the first leg of the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday evening; 8.05pm kick off UK time. This will be the 36th meeting between English clubs in European competition w...

By Paul Tomkins. Value for money is a hot topic right now, with Liverpool fans’ understandable protest at ticket prices at times spilling over into how much the club has wasted on transfers. Thankfully the ticket price issue seems resolved for now (with a compromise reached), but the issue of was...